8/23, 24-25
Due to weather today we rescheduled and will try to go out Monday.
Taking the weekend off to pack and start to get geared up for the

SALMON RIVER
(See Photo of 20 lb. Buck Steelhead, taken in Feb. (released)

8/22 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Chip and John were pretty surprised to find tons and I mean tons of bait present as we waded into position on the flat. This was the most bait I've seen all summer! The fish did not let us down and were ever so present feeding heavily. At times the shallow water was exploding all around us with fish inhaling all they could while the bait was spraying towards the sky. Once the current stopped, so did this aggressive feeding behavior. Then it was 30 fish, head shot, 80 feet and closing, get it out there! (politely, he-he). Couple sneaking up behind us at 40 feet, going left. Watch out, your going to hook me! (he-he) Going left to right is a single 20 lb. bass, 40 feet. O-O, here comes a school of 50 big fish, going left 60 feet! This went on for a good while and we did not have to wait very long for more shots at'm. Didn't hook one. They were once again being very fussy eaters. Thought with all the bait present and the aggressiveness of their feeding we might find a couple that would eat. We had lookers, follows and some very close inspection of our flies, but it was not to be.

We left for another promising spot and hooked up a couple. This spot had a few fish in it, but not as many as we had hoped. After lunch the weather front started to close in on us. The wind gradually picked up to about a steady 20 knots with higher gust's. The sun disappeared and was replaced with white caps all around us. Decided to call it an early day. The catching was sloooooow, but the fishing was great! (he-he)

(See Photo's)
John lands a schoolie and the above barely keeper. Congrats!!

Casio - GV10 Digital Camera
Since my last $350 digital camera took an unexpected swim and became useless. I started to look around for a water resistant camera. In my line of work, my camera is surrounded by or in the area of water, high winds, sand, ice, snow, sleet, rain, dirt on a daily basis, almost year round. It's also not always easy to handle it with care and is normally in a tough and rugged environment . The camera I found and purchased was the Casio GV-10 Digital camera. (Linked below) If you drop it in the water, it will still work. If you drop it in the sand, just rinse it off and it will still work. Etc....

Since many of you like to take pictures while you are out enjoying the great outdoors, I thought I would pass on the info. on this little jewel.

Best Fish's,
Randy
P.S. I have recieved "nothing" in return for this endorsement. (Yet, he-he)

8/20-21
Scheduled day off. Need to get re-certified CPR today. May move tomorrow's trip to later as the wind is forecast to blow 15-25 N.E.

8/19 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Fog and no wind was the weather for the coming tide. As we approached the first spot we noticed fish swirling and slurping bait in 1 foot of water. Another 300 feet out we had fish busting on bait with birds diving. Hmmmm, this looked very promising. We started off sight fishing and had a fair number of small to large fish come with in casting range. Light was not the best, so what we had to do was stand very shallow. With bad light and standing to deep, by the time you see them they see you. (Big waste of time) By standing shallow and allowing the fish to come to you, your visual cone is so large that it gives you enough time and distance to make the cast without the fish detecting your presence. The fog got heavier which made sight fishing impossible so we moved into position to blind cast where we had seen the fish busting on the surface earlier. Hooked up 3 schoolies in a row. Soon after, the fog began to lift so we moved to another flat to continue sight fishing. Saw a fair to very good number of small and larger fish. Two fish were lost (broken off) by having a heavy hand and holding the line as the fish ran. (This is called a CHOKE, he-he) Instead of setting and letting the line slide through their fingers. I guess, sometimes we all get a little excited and forget that part! As we were working our way back to shore, I noticed a bunch a spots on the sand where normally there are none. There were about 100 fish just hanging around in about 1-2 feet of water. We had a few short strikes and landed a couple. As we watched them, some were busting on the surface in front of us. Very exciting day, very educational day.

(See Photo's)

Sam hooks up first on the coming tide, then Mark lands a couple. With sun and lot's of shot's, both of my guest's hooked up some more on the flats. Congrats!!

8/17-18
Scheduled days off.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the effort and time that you have continued to put into your site. I have followed it for two years now since I discovered the fishery around that section of NY. Last year I was very fortunate and landed a 35" female steelhead in September, huge thick shoulders, all of 20 lbs. and landed it after a 15 minute fight. I was using a 7wt. St Croix with six lb. Maxima tippet, a number 12 red head pattern that I got from your site last summer and a couple of split BB shots with a strike indicator. Best fresh water fish I have ever landed and the most exciting of my life. Wonderful that at 46 simple pleasures can get my knees shaking and my heart pounding.

I am coming to understand, in addition to luck of weather, river conditions and being in an area where fish are holding or moving through, is like the location/location/location mantra of real estate when it comes to fish. I had a good bit of luck last fall/winter.

Anyway, you are the guide, I needn't tell you! Just happy to have found flyfishing to renew my love of being on rivers and outdoors after a lifetime of fishing but getting tired of spin rodding it. And to let you know your site is appreciated by many, including me. You and your brethren are a great lot and have opened up much for many of us.

I even got my 10 yr. old on the river with fly rod and got him into three nice fish, none landed by him but the pictures with bent rod and full smile tell it all. And he wants to go back too!

Anyway, thanks again,
May you remain present enough in each moment to fully enjoy what this great gift of life has to offer...
Keith

Keith,
I'm flattered by your kind and generous words! It makes me very happy you enjoy the web site and that fly helped you along the way to hooking up on a trophy fish! Best Fish's,
Randy Jones

8/16 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Dick and son Dave joined me for what turned out to be a very sloooooow day of fishing. We hit 3 fish total and caught them in 2 out of 3 spots. I was surprised we didn't do a little better. With solid clouds, haze and wind we had to blind cast all day. If your coming out to fish soon, expect challenging fishing.
(Since I'm a professional (he-he), I have to use the word challenging. Most of you would probably find better descriptive words to use to describe the fishing of late. Since this is a G rated web site, I have to keep it clean!)
Dave was taught how to fly fish by me this Spring. He was one of the fastest learner's I've ever worked with. That day he picked up 5-6 fish. I was amazed once again today to see him throwing 70 foot cast's with ease and with a 2 foot or less loop size! Nice!! Let's add the fact that it was a 400 grain line to boot!
As we waited for the tide to start moving I decided he was ready for the double haul. Knowing this advanced casting technique can add 20 feet to your cast's among other things. He got it after some practice and noticed an increase in distance, speed. Congrats!!

(See Photo)
Dick shows off the biggest fish of the day. Congrats!!

8/15 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
If it's one thing Arthur knows and loves, it's fishing. He was like an encyclopedia of fishing stories, B.S. and knowledge. He had heard of these flats but had never tried them. So today was the day. With cloud's this AM we blind cast and missed a couple and landed some schoolies. The sun came out so we headed for the flats. As soon as our ankles touched the water we saw a 20 lb'er. Then a 15 lb'r. Neither ate, but I could tell Art was getting excited about today's opportunities. We found a fair number of fish to sight cast too through out the day. Some area's were great, while other's were slow. We had a 15 lb. bass eat Art's perfectly cast fly that he saw. Unfortunately we did not have the fish hooked good enouph and hook came lose.

(See Photo's)
A couple out of 4 schoolies that came to hand today. Plus that 15 lb'er that the hooked pulled on and got away. Congrats!

8/14 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Tom moved to Michigan 11 months ago from Japan. He spoke very good english and was very excited to try his hand at sight fishing the flats. Before we even got to the spot, I pointed out to Tom a 10 lb. bass in 12 inch's of water that was swimming straight for us.

Sight fishing was tuff today with a very stiff breeze and a hazy sky. But, if you kept the sun's angle in mind and were able to keep the wind across your chest or throw with the wind, onto specific flats, at the correct part of the tide, it worked!

As soon as we set-up I called out more fish. Then a lull , so we moved 50 feet and saw more, then another lull, so we moved 100 feet and saw more, etc... This went on for most of the morning. Did not see big numbers of fish, but did not have to wait too long in between them. Most were 10 lb's or better. We sight fished 6 spots in total and saw fish in all. Noticed a few more fish around today than in the past few. Not a lot, but just enough to keep it interesting if you knew where to look at, at what stage of the tide. No one followed me "all" around today, so we had all the prime flats to ourselves. It was truly a fine day of sight fishing with an even finer gentleman!

(See Photo's)

Can you say "Fish ON?" Tom was all smiles with the above flats, sight fished keeper. Congrats!!

Boy, my legs are soooo tired from walking the flats. My voice is soooo sore from calling out fish. I can hardly lift my arm up from pointing at fish all day. The annoying sound of all those birds diving to pick up bait and the fish splashing on the surface as they feed on whatever today's tide brings them. The hot sun beating down on me, that cool breeze blowing and messing up my hair. Starring into that crystal clear water on those white bottom flats can be a major strain on my eye's. That irritating whining sound of the drag, having to watch all that backing go out, all the congratulatory hand shakes, smiles, seals moaning, bait spraying, the smell of the salt air, that hellish commute on the shuttle boat to the flats. It's all soooooo terribly stressful and exhausting!
Boy, what I wouldn't give for a nice air conditioned desk job. Quota's and dead lines to meet. Four walls, a big soft chair to sit my rear end in all day and an hour long commute in traffic.
Anyone want to trade? (he-he) Sorry, but I dont want any of you to feel your immune to my sophomoric humor and banter. Even if, your retired and sitting in front of your computer or at work reading my reports when you should be WORKING! (he-he)

8/13 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
John started off blind casting into some fishy water this AM. due to fog. We picked up the below schoolie. The fog cleared so we headed off to the flats. Saw some nice ones and had some good shots, but not seeing enough to keep our interested. As we sight fished along the way we had additional shots at some more honk'as. Next several spots we saw one here and a couple there. Nothing to get excited about. Last spot was the slowest. Fish did not come up onto the flat until late in the tide. Had some more shots at some big ole pigs, but no takers. Fishing is very tuff presently. Once again, these faster tides are NOT bringing in the bait or additional fresh fish that we normally see. Very unusual!

One of the highlights of the day was watching a 20 lb. bass do about 20 head stands, 50-60 feet from us in 4 feet of water. It was fun to watch him go head first into the sand with his tail flapping out of the water back and forth for balance. That's called "tailing" and is not something that most folks ever get a chance to see. We had the fly in the right place a couple of times and reeeeelly thought we might hook up. Especially with it's head down where we were out of it's vision and because it was feeding so aggressively.

(See Photo)
This was John's first time ever fly fishing the saltwater and also sight fishing. I don't think it will be his last. Congrats!

8/12 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Today my 3 guest's and I ventured into 3 area's I had not fished yet this year. After yesterday, I wanted to try some different fishy locations normally not fished by 99.99% of wade anglers who frequent this area. (I kept looking behind me to make sure know one was following me) As soon as we waded in we were seeing fish, big ones at that. About every minute or two, 1 would come by in front of us by about 30 feet in a small depression in the sand. Casting was tuff with the wind blowing into our faces so we left fish to find fish. This move would keep us on the same flat but gave us a visual (sun behind you) and casting advantage (with the wind blowing from behind or across us) As soon as Mike waded in he started to cast. "Randy, When I walked out I saw all these spots and wondered what they were. Then they all started moving!" We hung out and had some nice ones pass by with in casting distance. On our walk to another location we kept a close look out for more fish in the shallows and were rewarded with singles, doubles and a school of 30 fish to cast at. Next stop gave us additional fish to sight cast too. Today it was hard NOT to find them. We ended up with about 5 fish landed and about 2 that short strike'd the fly. Had a fair number of fish to cast at all day with a few slow periods in between. Today was a success in many ways. Congrats to you all!

8/11 S.E. Cape Cod Fishing Report
Boy, thought I was in for an easy day today. Jim and George could cast 80 feet with
their eyes closed. On their forward, back cast and even into the wind with a big
heavily weight fly. Both have been guiding for years and George is a fly casting
instructor. I figured all I had to do is put them onto some fish on the flats and
then I could go lay down on the sand and take a nap. WRONG! Problem was I could not
find them any good numbers of bass to sight cast too. We would stop at the first
spot and see a couple fish and then nothing. Then the next and the next spot. I
figured sooner or later we would find the mother load. Out of the 8 or so different
area's that we looked into, all we could find was the occasional fish? Only one spot
at the end of the day had a so-so to fair number of fish at times. Took a skunk today.
I was glad I had 2 guides out with me, as they, more than anyone understand that the
only thing you can reeeeely guarantee is knowledge. Today, I think a sharp stick in
the eye would have felt better to me than the skunk did! (he-he)

Few things I noticed that I'm sure had an impact were.

Some people were not taking advantage of the sun and sight fishing. They were wading
waist deep and blind casting for all they were worth. This is called standing in the
lane. This spooks the fish and sends them scurrying away looking for safety somewhere
else. This did not help those of us who were trying to stay shallow, blend in and be
quiet. Would you go hunting for deer or turkey with a radio on full blast listening
to your favorite tunes? I didn't think so. It's hard to figure why you would cast on
a flat if you dont see the fish. O'well, I guess we were all new once and
didn't know any better.

The other thing I noticed is a lack of bait. I saw next to no bait in area's that did
have some recently.

The combination of wind, chop hurt our visibility a little and also caused us to stand
shallower than I would have preferred in places. The faster tides were also stirring
the sand up a little in places, which did not help.

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Thank you all for your words of encouragement, kind words and
your continued support through out the summer. Ill continue to do my best in sharing what I've learned
through experience, experimentation, borrowed ideas and taught techniques next summer.

If any of you are interested, I will continue to post pictures, educational articles, fishing report's on my web site regarding the Salmon River, NY. starting approx. Sept. 13

Great steelie, I have been chasing after chromers for 20 years for one like that. Believe I had a couple of 15 pounders on and lost but never a 20 LB. Very few of those around in Michigan but there are some.

Look forward to the Salmon river posts.

Is it as crowded as it appears from a distance in cyber world ?

Looks like there is some nice fly water on it from the pictures I have seen.